James Darren, ‘Gidget’ and ‘T.J. Hooker’ Actor, Useless at 88 – Hollywood Life

James Darren, an actor, director, and singer greatest identified for his function as Moondoggie within the 1959 film Gidget, died Monday at age 88.

The entertainer handed away in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Middle in Los Angeles, his son Jim Moret, a correspondent for Inside Version, advised The Hollywood Reporter. Darren was as a result of endure aortic valve alternative surgical procedure however was deemed too weak for the process.

“I at all times thought he would pull via as a result of he was so cool. He was at all times cool,” Moret—son of Warren and Gloria Terlitsky—advised the outlet.

Nancy Sinatra shared on Instagram alongside two pictures—one that includes her daughter’s baptism and one other of her and Darren facet by facet, “One in every of my dearest, closest associates in all of the world, of all my life, has handed away. Godfather to my daughter, AJ.l (@aj.lambert). Wishing him a quick and exquisite journey via the Universe and past. Godspeed, candy Jimmy. My coronary heart is torn however full of affection for Evy, Christian, Anthony, and Jimmy, Jr. 💔”

In response to Sinatra’s tribute, Moret replied on X: “Nancy, my father beloved you. Thanks a lot on your form and loving phrases.”

Darren, born James Ercolani, studied below the legendary performing coach Stella Adler in New York. The Philadelphia native then signed with Columbia Photos and made his movement image debut within the 1956 drama Rumble on the Docks, in keeping with his web site.

His breakout function got here in 1959’s Gidget as surfer Moondoggie, a task he reprised in subsequent sequels Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963).

Along with performing, Darren additionally made a reputation for himself within the mid-Sixties as a singer. He sang the title observe for Gidget, and its success led him to document and launch extra songs, together with his largest hit, 1961’s “Goodbye Merciless World,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Scorching 100.

He continued to work in Hollywood tv with standard sequence such because the 1966 sci-fi present The Time Tunnel and the ’80s police drama T.J. Hooker, alongside William Shatner.

“Jimmy Darren; I labored with him for a number of years after which we’d see one another every so often,” Shatner mirrored on X following information of Darren’s dying. “What an exquisite man—so proficient, so loving. I had the very best time with him. The world is much less due to his loss.”

After many years in tv, he transitioned into TV directing, engaged on reveals like Melrose Place and Beverly Hills, 90210 within the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s.

He’s survived by his spouse Evy, sons Moret, Christian Darren and Anthony Darren and 5 grandchildren.